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HOUSE POISED TO CREATE BENGHAZI PANEL – Bradley Klapper reports for the Associated Press: “House Republicans are set to begin a special investigation of the deadly attack on the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, raising the stakes in a political battle with the Obama administration as the midterm election season heats up. Democrats are considering a boycott of the committee, which is expected to be approved formally when the Republican-led House votes Thursday afternoon. They don't want their presence to provide legitimacy to what they believe will be a partisan forum, yet they don't want to lose the ability to counter Republican claims and provide cover for potential witnesses.

--“Speaker John Boehner vowed Wednesday that the examination would be ‘all about getting to the truth’ of the Obama administration's response to the attack and would not be a partisan, election-year circus. ‘This is a serious investigation,’ he said while accusing Obama and his team of withholding the true story of how militants killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans on Sept. 11, 2012. Democrats voiced wide-ranging concerns over the scope and composition of the select committee. They said they'd make no decision on whether to participate in the panel until Boehner responds to a demand from Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi that he scrap his plan for a committee of seven Republicans and five Democrats. Democrats say membership should be evenly split, and want clearer time and cost constraints for a forum they likened to a ‘kangaroo court.’ Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., said Boehner's panel ‘can go on forever.’” http://goo.gl/iJ38vv

--Pelosiis leaning in favor of a full boycott of the Benghazi panel, per POLITICO’s Jake Sherman and Anna Palmer: “Appointing fewer than five lawmakers would be an attempt to show that Democrats don’t fully endorse the committee but still are in place if Republican ‘tricks happen,’ according to a Democratic aide — maneuvers like releasing selective transcripts of depositions. ... Pelosi has made no secret that she thinks this special panel — chaired by Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) — is a sham.” http://goo.gl/IRyw75

--The National Republican Congressional Committee fundraises offthe Benghazi probe, irking chief Benghazi investigator Trey Gowdy. Wall Street Journal: “Shortly before House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) promised Wednesday that a special panel to investigate the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, would not be a ‘circus,’ the House Republicans’ campaign arm sent an email to supporters trying to raise money off the investigation. The Wednesday morning email from BenghaziWatchdogs.com—a page on the National Republican Congressional Committee website—heralds House Republicans’ work to ‘hold Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama accountable for their actions’ and promises a ‘thorough investigation of what happened that night.’” http://goo.gl/k7BQyd

--Pelosi missed the Lerner vote for a DCCC fundraiser, per The Hill’s Cristina Marcos: http://goo.gl/iJGaXC

--Hillary Clinton, who was secretary of state when the attacks occurred, said of the Benghazi investigation: “I mean, of course there are a lot of reasons why, despite all of the hearings, all of the information that’s been provided, some choose not to be satisfied and choose to continue to move forward. That’s their choice and I do not believe there is any reason for it to continue in this way, but they get to call the shots in Congress.” http://goo.gl/WMa23n

--Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), a member of the House Intelligence Committee, has withdrawn his name from consideration for the Benghazi panel, per the Washington Examiner’s David Drucker. Side note: Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.) is quoted as saying he’s heard as many as 206 House Republicans have asked to be considered for the committee: http://goo.gl/TjNMkD

WHY OBAMA MAY NEVER GET AN IMMIGRATION BILL – Your Huddle pinch-hitter and Senate guru Manu Raju lay out the reasons why comprehensive immigration reform is essentially impossible in Obama’s last two years at the White House: “Marco Rubio spent months last year furiously negotiating a comprehensive immigration bill. But don’t count on the Florida Republican to revive his stalled bill in the next Congress. ‘A comprehensive, single piece of legislation on any topic, but especially on immigration, is going to be very difficult to achieve,’ Rubio, a potential presidential candidate, said when asked whether he’d push a large overhaul in the 2015-16 session …. Rubio’s grim assessment reflects growing pessimism on Capitol Hill that a sweeping immigration bill is achievable in President Barack Obama’s second term if nothing passes this year.”

--“This means lawmakers would have to start from scratch next year. But looming over the next Congress will be the 2016 presidential primary season, which could make it too difficult for GOP leaders, and potential presidential candidates like Rubio, to moderate on an issue that roils the conservative base … ‘I think if it’s not done this year, it’s going to be next to impossible to do it next year,’ said Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who drafted the immigration bill with Rubio and a bipartisan coalition known as the Gang of Eight … Backers are now eyeing a window between now and the August recess for the House to pass immigration legislation. This block of time is ideal, they say, because it takes place after the end of most GOP primaries when support for immigration reform is seen as politically toxic. But complicating the legislative equation is that the Obama administration is considering whether to take executive action that would effectively slow deportations for immigrants living here illegally — a chief demand of the Latino community that is a core part of the Democratic base.” http://goo.gl/BOirWS

HOUSE VOTES CONTEMPT FOR LERNER – Jeremy W. Peters for the New York Times: “The House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to hold Lois Lerner, a former Internal Revenue Service official accused by Republicans of abusing power, in contempt, laying bare the bitter divide over which much of the midterm elections will be fought. It was a moment of high drama, complete with allegations that the White House oversaw a Watergate-style cover-up that helped steal a presidential election, and invocations of Senator Joseph R. McCarthy and his delusions of widespread conspiracy. Republicans spent much of the day laying out a case for why the Obama administration is politically corrupt and, by extension, why Democrats could not be trusted with power. In doing so they revealed the issues that, in addition to unhappiness with the Affordable Care Act, will form the legs of the stool on which their campaign strategy will rest.”

--“Republican leaders hope that with the series of events they set in motion with the vote, which passed 231-187 along party lines, they will expose a pattern of cover-up and political whitewashing by the White House … Ms. Lerner’s lawyer, William W. Taylor III, said: ‘Today’s vote has nothing to do with the facts or the law. Its only purpose is to keep the baseless I.R.S. ‘conspiracy’ alive through the midterm elections.’” http://goo.gl/d9MSnO

EARMARKS MAKE A COMEBACK – Burgess Everett has the story for POLITICO: “One day after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid offered a full-throated defense of earmarks, the Senate Republican Steering Committee decided to confront the divisive issue head-on Wednesday, meeting for a lengthy lunch where talk about the targeted spending was the main course … Republicans like Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, whose isolated home state has long benefited from earmarks, argue the Senate banned earmarks because it’s politically popular, not because it’s good policy. And in doing so, she says Congress has ceded spending decisions to Obama and his administration and has no good plan of how to get them back. ‘It was wrongheaded,’ Murkowski said of the ban. ‘When you basically say: ‘Agencies, you set the priorities,’ I’m not down with that.’” http://goo.gl/NRA8wQ

SNEAK PEEK OF TED KENNEDY INSTITUTE -- Michael Levenson of the Boston Globe gives us a preview of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute, scheduled to open next year: “That’s where Teddy’s desk would have been, she said, pointing to a spot in the back row. That’s where I would sit, she said, pointing to the family gallery on the second floor. Victoria Reggie Kennedy was not walking through the actual United States Senate, but a scale replica of the chamber that is being built on Columbia Point in Dorchester. With its ornate domed ceiling, decorative gold wallpaper, and Latin mottos etched on the walls, the replica of the historic chamber will be the centerpiece of The Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate, an educational center and tribute to the legendary Massachusetts Democrat that is slated to open to the public in March 2015. On Tuesday, Kennedy, the senator’s widow, donned a blue hard hat and showed off the chamber, as well as the rest of the 65,000-square-foot building, which she said will be packed with interactive exhibits about the Senate’s history, the legislative process, and her husband’s 47-year career.” http://goo.gl/DFWSWA

GOOD THURSDAY MORNING, May 8, 2014, and welcome to The Huddle, your play-by-play preview of all the action on Capitol Hill. I'm Seung Min Kim, filling in for Scott Wong on your favorite congressional morning newsletter. Send tips, suggestions, comments, complaints, corrections and more pig selfies to skim@politico.com. If you don't already, please follow me on Twitter @seungminkim.

My new followers include @Cfattahjr and @ryantaylorwyo.

TODAY IN CONGRESS – The House is in at 10 a.m. and votes are expected between 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. and again at 5 to 6 p.m. Lawmakers will take up the resolution creating the select committee on the Benghazi attacks and begin working on legislation to permanently extend the R&D tax credit and reauthorizing charter school law, as well as some suspensions.

The Senate is in at 9:30 a.m. At 11:15 a.m., senators will have four clotures votes on various nominations, with confirmation votes to follow at 1:45 p.m. if cloture is invoked.

AROUND THE HILL – Sens. John McCain and Jeanne Shaheen, and Reps. Earl Blumenauer and Adam Kinzinger will hold a press conference at 10:30 a.m. in S-207 to introduce legislation to extend the Special Immigrant Visa program for Afghan civilians. Reps. Raul Labrador, Tim Huelskamp and Jim Jordan will hold the monthly Conversations with Conservatives at Rayburn 2226 at 11 a.m. in Rayburn 2226. Speaker John Boehner will hold his weekly news conference at 11:30 a.m. in HVC Studio A. Reps. Trent Franks and Ron DeSantis will talk about Obamacare court challenges at 4 p.m. at House Triangle.

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR BURWELL – Obama’s choice to lead Health and Human Services (and Obamacare) publicly takes the seat for the first time before Congress in her confirmation battle today. POLITICO’s Jennifer Haberkorn lays out five questions Sylvia Mathews Burwell is likely to face later today before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee: “1. Are you going to be upfront with us? … 2. What would you change in the law? … 3. How many people lost coverage and how many were previously uninsured? … 4. What about those premiums? … 5. How much do you know about health care?” http://goo.gl/82W0Qk

KEYSTONE TALKS COLLAPSE – CQ Roll Call: “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid moved to block Republican energy amendments Wednesday, likely dooming an energy efficiency bill and a separate vote approving the Keystone XL pipeline. Reid’s decision to fill the amendment tree came after he tried to get unanimous consent to set up a vote to approve the energy efficiency bill and, if passed, set up a vote by May 22 on a bill approving the proposed pipeline. Both votes would have 60 vote thresholds, with no amendments in order. In response, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., sought consent that the Senate vote on five Republican amendments to the energy bill. Both objected to the other’s requests and with no path forward, the energy bill will likely fail when the Senate votes to cut off debate, which is expected to happen on Monday.” http://goo.gl/EV96A4

CALIFORNIANS: DON’T LET WATER BILL SINK -- Michael Doyle reports for McClatchy: “Beneath a placid surface, California lawmakers are furiously churning to keep an anti-drought bill afloat. They’re counting votes, making tradeoffs and tinkering with language. They’re confronting singular political calculations like: Will a Lake Mead provision for Nevada, home state of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, cause problems with other Democrats upstream in Colorado? And, no mean feat, they are meeting. For an hour Wednesday morning, half-a-dozen House Democrats convened privately with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., to discuss her anti-drought legislation. Tellingly, the Northern California Democrats entered the meeting voicing caution -- Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., echoed others in saying parts of Feinstein’s bill were “problematic” -- but they exited smiling. ‘It was a great meeting,’ Thompson said afterward. ‘She has made changes that alleviate some of our concerns.’” http://goo.gl/Ae6snV

WHAT’S NEXT FOR STEVE ISRAEL? – Emma Dumain of CQ Roll Call gets a sit-down with the DCCC chief: “Rep. Steve Israel doesn’t want another tour of duty as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. ‘Let me think about it,’ the New York Democrat told CQ Roll Call in a recent interview, feigning indecision for just an instant before delivering the punch line. ‘No! No. No. No.’ He exhaled with a long, loud laugh, and then grew serious. ‘I very much want to continue being in leadership,’ he said. ‘But three terms is a bad idea for our caucus. You need fresh blood.’ … [O]nce the dust settles from Election Day, Israel will be left at a career crossroads. He wants a seat at a leadership table without an empty chair: The ‘Big Five’ slate of caucus chairman, vice chairman, whip, leader and assistant leader is likely to remain static in the 114th Congress.” http://goo.gl/v9o4e2

DEM PUSHBACK ON ‘LET’S MOVE’ – Buzzfeed’s Evan McMorris-Santoro with the scoop: “Two close Democratic allies of Michelle Obama’s push to reduce childhood obesity are hosting the screening of a new film Wednesday on Capitol Hill that casts the ‘Let’s Move’ efforts as largely toothless and a gift to the processed food industry. Filmmakers behind the film Fed Up have directly criticized Obama, saying she “got co-opted by politics” when it comes to obesity. The project is a highly touted new documentary about childhood obesity narrated by Katie Couric and directed by Stephanie Soechtig. … Wednesday night, the film [got] even more support from Democratic lawmakers as New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro [hosted] a screening in the Capitol complex.” http://goo.gl/gO6CWd

WEDNESDAY’S TRIVIA WINNER – Shelby Boxenbaum was the first person to correctly answer that 10,471 flags were flown over the Capitol on July 4, 1976 to mark the bicentennial of the United States.

TODAY'S TRIVIA – Boxenbaum offers up today’s question: Most people know that Adams and Jefferson died on the same day as each other July 4, 1826. But what other president also died on the Fourth of July? The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day's Huddle. Email me at skim@politico.com.

GET HUDDLE emailed to your Blackberry, iPhone or other mobile device each morning. Just enter your email address where it says "Sign Up." http://www.politico.com/huddle/

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